Mixed Oscars bag; '12 Years a Slave,' Cuaron take the top.

AuthorCoyle, Jake
PositionNews

Byline: Jake Coyle

LOS ANGELES -- The searing slavery drama ''12 Years a Slave'' won the Academy Award for best picture.

Directed by British director Steve McQueen, the film is based on a true story and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped into slavery in the South. It is the first film directed by a black filmmaker, Spike Jonze, to win the best picture Oscar.

Other nominees were: ''American Hustle,'' ''Captain Phillips,'' ''Dallas Buyers Club,'' ''Gravity,'' ''Her,'' ''Nebraska,'' ''Philomena,'' and ''The Wolf of Wall Street.''

And with seven Oscars including a history-making best director award for Alfonso Cuaron, the force of ''Gravity'' exerted itself at the ceremony.

Even with several awards to go, the 3-D space spectacle was assured to be the most honored film at the Dolby Theatre ceremony hosted nimbly by Ellen DeGeneres. The Mexican Cuaron is the first Latino filmmaker to take best director.

''It was a transformative experience,'' said Cuaron, who spent some five years making the film and developing its visual effects. ''For a lot of people, that transformation was wisdom. For me, it was the color of my hair.''

He thanked his star, Sanda Bullock, the sole person on screen for much of the lost-in-space drama: ''Sandra, you are 'Gravity.''' Bullock lost the best actress award to Cate Blanchett, the star of Woody Allen's ''Blue Jasmine.''

First-time winners Lupita Nyong'o and Jared Leto took supporting acting honors in a smooth if safe Oscar ceremony Sunday punctuated by politics, pizza and photo-bombing.

Wearing a dress of Nairobi blue, the 31-year-old Nyong'o, breakout star of the historical drama ''12 Years a Slave,'' accepted the award for best supporting actress. In her feature film debut, Nyong'o made an indelible impression as the tortured slave Patsey.

''It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's, and so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance,'' said Nyong'o. Glowing backstage, she cradled her statuette: ''I'm so happy to be holding this golden man.''

DeGeneres' second stint was a kind of amiable, light-footed correction from last year's ''We Saw Your Boob''-singing host Seth MacFarlane.

After warmly needling stars in a dance-free opening monologue, she circulated freely in the crowd. DeGeneres had pizza delivered, appealing to Harvey Weinstein to pitch in, and gathered stars to snap a selfie she hoped would be a...

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